1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a wood stock support structure for a vertical type wood shearing machine and in particular to a new and useful support arm construction which utilizes at least two pivotal support arms which are mounted to a blade holder and bar carrying unit of a vertical type wood shear machine, which are pivotable into a support position by double action hydraulic cylinders to support wood stock and which arms are usable to push wood stock against a substantially vertical support table of the vertical type wood shearing machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vertical type wood shearing machines are known which comprise a substantially vertical support table for holding a piece of wood stock or timber. The support table is mounted on one or more slideways and connected to a vertical reciprocating device which moves the slide table in an upward and downard direction. Associated with the slide table on the shearing machine is a carriage supporting a blade holder unit and a bar carrying unit. The carriage is mounted on the shearing machine for substantial motion toward and away from the support table. A blade carried on the blade holding unit is brought into contact with the wood stock in the support table and utilizing the reciprocal motion of the support table, thin slices of wood may be cut from the wood stock or timber and utilized in the manufacture of veneers and the like.
Two problems exist in the manipulation of wood stock or timber when it is first brought into association with the shearing machine and when the wood stock or timber must be rotated through 180.degree. in order to expose a fresh surface to be sheared by the machine.
The first of these problems concerns the positioning and adherence of the wood stock or timber to the vertical table of the shearing machine. The wood stock must be securely fixed to the vertical table in order to prevent any shifting or swinging of the wood stock and thus to insure a uniform cutting operation. It is known to provide the vertical table with hooks to lock the wood stock against the vertical table and to change these hooks to hooks with shorter lengths as the cutting process proceeds. This process is achieved by manual empirical operation and is thus time-consuming and wasteful of labor.
Two operators insert two wooden struts between the blade holder and bar carrying units of the wood shearing machine and the wood stock which is positioned in the vertical table. The blade holder and bar carrying unit is then advanced toward the wood stock to force it against the supporting table and properly engage and fix the wood stock with the supporting table. Such an operation is exceedingly dangerous for the operators in that they must be in close proximity to the machine while one of the machine members is in motion. In addition the process is costly and at least three persons are required to achieve the process.
The second problem in the aforementioned vertical shearing machine is that arising when the wood stock has been cut to one half its original width at which point it must be rotated 180.degree. about its longitudinal axis in order to expose a new face to the shearing blade of the shearing machine. This rotation is customarily achieved during the operation to enable the wood to be sheared off in the direction most favorable to the fiber directions within the wood stock.
Up until the present time the wood stock was rotated manually by stopping the machine, connecting hooks to the wood stock which are connected to chains and a crane, extracting the wood from the shearing machine and placing it on the floor where the wood stock is rotated into its desired position. The crane then hoists the wood back into position in the shearing machine.